Even stars mystified by Sense8
Wachowski siblings, known for the Matrix trilogy, launch new sci-fi series on Netflix
Understandably, there were secrets surrounding the plot and storyline of the Netflix sci-fi series Sense8.
But star Daryl Hannah says they extended to details she was given about her own role: Even after signing on, she says she wasn’t told much about her mysterious character and how she fits into the bizarre world created by visionary Matrix siblings Lana and Andy Wachowski and Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski.
All 12 episodes of Sense8 hit Netflix Friday.
The sprawling series follows eight strangers around the world who suddenly develop the ability to connect to each other’s thoughts, actions and emotions. Hannah’s otherworldly character, Angel, sparks that connection, somehow.
“There’s a lot that I still don’t really know,” Hannah admits, laughing during a recent conference call with co-star Naveen Andrews.
“But I wanted to do it because I’m a big fan of the Wachowskis; I think that they take incredible creative risks.
“They always deal with humanity and more complex issues in an incredibly, wildly innovative way. And so much passion and so much humanity and compassion and empathy, so when I met them and heard about what they were intending to do . . . I was just very excited and it’s absolutely superseded my expectations.”
The characters include a Chicago police officer (Brian J. Smith), a transgender woman in San Francisco (Jamie Clayton), an up-and-coming Icelandic DJ (Tuppence Middleton) in London, a conflicted man (Max Riemelt) with a criminal past in Berlin and a woman (Tina Desai) about to marry a man she doesn’t love in Mumbai.
Then there’s the closeted actor (Miguel Angel Silvestre) in Mexico City, the secretive Seoul businesswoman (Doona Bae) and a young bus driver (Aml Ameen) in Nairobi who needs life-saving medicine for his mother.
Andrews plays the enigmatic Jonas, who tries to bring the eight strangers together.
The former Lost star says scenes were shot in real locations around the globe and that meant a lot of travelling for him, to San Francisco, Chicago, London, Reykjavik and Berlin. But he gladly would have done more.
Andrews, too, says he struggled to make sense of his inscrutable character, ultimately relying on “an emotional and visceral” interpretation.
“The one thing that I hung onto for me is Jonas seems to be carrying the weight of some unbearable knowledge,” says Andrews.
Hannah says she drew inspiration from a pivotal scene in the beginning of the series that shows Angel making “the ultimate sacrifice for those that she loves.”
“And that’s something that was pretty easy for me to latch onto because that’s the kind of thing that I do in my advocacy and activism work,” says Hannah, also known for her environmental efforts.
She and the rest of the cast watched all 12 episodes of the series together, in one sitting.
The marathon binge was “incredible” but also left her feeling a little shell-shocked.
“I would have preferred, personally, to watch it and take it slower and maybe do an episode, or maybe two, at a time and let it absorb because they’re so complex.”